Solent District

1988 to present

Provides 24 hour SAR coverage for the UK SRR Solent District at 15 minutes readiness. SAR presence at Lee-on-Solent since around 1973, but the MCA civilian contract has only been in place since 1988. At the end of Nov 2006, ground was broken for a new MCA helicopter hangar at Lee-on-Solent, to house the AW139 due to enter service in early 2008, replacing the S-61N here.

Following award of 2013 Bristow GAP SAR contract, the SAR service handed over from CHC AW139 to Bristow AW189, in preparation for transition into the full 2015 contract arrangements from 2017.